thorn, splinter, spine, biting words, briers
棘 centers on sharp, piercing projections: literal thorns, splinters, or spines, and by extension biting, hurtful words that prick like thorns.
棘 is a doubling of 朿, an old pictograph of a thorny plant. The repetition emphasizes many thorns or a thorn bush.
Two thorn bushes 朿 side by side make a dense thicket of thorns. Picture a double barrier of sharp spines that can prick you or splinter under your skin.
For キョク, imagine a thorn so sharp it makes a quick 'kyok' sound when it snaps off. The sharp snap cues キョク while the thorn pricks your finger.
briars; thicket; the bush
sacrospinous ligament
ischial spine
Ryukyu spiny rat (Tokudaia osimensis)
black-headed monitor (Varanus tristis); freckled monitor
spinocellular carcinoma; squamous-cell carcinoma; prickle cell carcinoma
infraspinatus muscle
ridge-tailed monitor (Varanus acanthurus); spiny-tailed monitor
spiny ray (of a fin)
helmet crab (Telmessus acutidens)
echinoderm
Echinodermata (phylum of marine invertebrates)
spinous process
sand sifting starfish (Astropecten polyacanthus); comb star
stickleback (Gasterosteidae spp.)
acanthodians (extinct jawed fishes)
Ryukyu spiny rat (Tokudaia osimensis)
poisonous spine; venomous spine
Muennink's spiny rat (Tokudaia muenninki); Okinawa spinous country-rat
there is no rose without a thorn; every rose has its thorn